Pruning-shears.



E. BUELLF PRUNING SHEARS.

APPLICATION mm mac. 4. 1914.

1 ,137,380, Patented Apr. 27, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

WW3 4M THE NORRIS PETERS 60.. PHOTD-LITHO.. WASHINGION. D. c.

E. BUELL.

PRUNING SHEARS.

APPLICATION FILED ozc. 4. 1914.

1 1 37, 380. Patented Apr. 27, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEEY 2.

[dyar flue/Z THE NORRIS PETERS co., FHOTO-LITHO.. WASHYNG roN. D. c

EDGAR BUiELL, OF CLINTON, CONNECTICUT.

PRUNING-SHEARS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 27, 1915.

Application filed December 4, 1914. Serial No. 875,427.

To all'whom it may concern: Be it known that I, EDGAR BUELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Clinton, county of Middlesex, State of Connecti- 6 out, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pruning-Shears, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to shears particularly useful for pruning purposes, the object, broadly speaking, being to improve such a tool in a variety of ways and so as to render it extremely powerful, durable and efiective, and yet reasonably simple in its construction. f I v Iiihthe accompanying drawings: Figure l is aifsideelevation of 'my improved pruning shears with the blades open, one of the handle's 'be'in'g'" partially broken away. Fig.2, is a si i the complete device with cview'of ade's' closed.' Fig. .3 is aview of. the

reverse side of the blades and acent parts.

Fig. -%l is an edge viewof the :tool. looking 25, Figsi.f. 5,6.and 7 are perspective views of, de-

' taehed details.

from'the plane indicated at H on Fig. 2.

iii dificam;

a ie fthe a W .arth andhs T dle'. hil'e the'bladefl is conneea wnd pe .t-ed y a d 4-. The-blade 1,9 5 .itsipieferred form, isprovided withan out-;

: wardly cur theib ad s' pro ided .w th. a. er ts y a -ml h s o nsvers'ely notched, sofas. to... f r

tr? rel ire r iin idlyff cQdite li 2?. F

ndyof the. handle 3', providing a; for r. y ac d. ld raga n's whi h 3 1-. nei "end of the movable blade 'member :nioves and bywhich'theffstrain wa s taken This movable blade member comprises, what 51 have already characterizedgthe blade.2, and also a lateral extensionhri bend-zfi, which is by a pivot screw 6 connected to the forward gci th ahendle.:- -T rhandleae {1s pro-1.

vided with an offset bearing lug 7 WhiOhiS'l pivotally connected at 8 to the abutment 5, said pivotal connection being just below and relatively close to the pivotal connection 6*, 65 whereby the movement of the handle 4 will a v ma ent m r wri a heena ved' sharp clitting, edge, 1", while {forwardly facedfabutment at the exert an exceedingly powerful leverage on the blades. Any suitable means, such as a screw 9, may be employed to hold the blade members 1, 2 againsteach other with the proper degree of firmness to cause a shear-v ing action to take place as their cutting edges move past each other. The back of the bend 6 bears against the forward end of the abutment 5, and this back is properly curved to provide in effect a cam shoulder 6, which coacts with the end of said abutment. 10 is a spring serving to move the handles 3, 4 apart, so as to cause the blades 1, 2'to normally move apart or open. Y. 11 is a guard against which the forefinger may rest to revent the users handfrom sliding, too ardown the handles. It is preferable that the blade 1 should bema'de of. properly tempered steel, .andsince itlis;

unnecessary to form the handles ofsucha I vhandle by which it is carried and ;secured-;1

thereto asv by screws or rivets 12, 12,,1

. that end the handle? mayhavea side wing Fig. 8 is a view of a slight A mod ficationg of oneof the blades Fig.9 is

with but littleexpense and discard-- ,,ing the balance ofthe tool..;; 1 ,1)

In operation, the act of inchingthe.

-,dles 3, {Ltogether causes thebladesgto-iappreach each other so asto-grip and;cutiany-- thing. which may be placedbetween-them;

Thepiesence of .the notches or teeth.art-{tile edge of the blade member 2.pr6ent.any i .thing that is placed between the rn for cut-: ting..,fr 5m beingforced forwardly out ofq blade engagement by the shearing. action .of-,.--- .thehlacl'es. ,As the hand'les approach each otherjthe cam 6? travels.along the-forwand dfq the abutm n so hat theistrainofloo the work is. received wholly,bygsaid abut-n 1 mer t, and not the ,screw Q inn example; z fl smib a in th pre e r fiorm, thence.

sign of the cam shoulder 6 is such that the action .of the blade '1 on the thing being cute-.105

hea slight drawing action instead of a direct pinching action. By this slight drawing action greater efliciency is obtained. It is obvious that this .drawing action may be varied by modifying the design of the cam HE event leither blade becomes orfi85 nri y be p edyannewzone: hide I is rigidly carriied by' the banand cooperating abutment face or shoulder, an illustration of a more bulging cam being shown at 6 in Fig. 8.

As shown in Fig. 9 the pivotal screw con nection between the bend 6 and the handle l may be varied by providing several positions for receiving the pivot 6", two positions being shown at 1515. By shifting the pivot screw 6* the leverage may be varied. By providing the notches or teeth 2 upon the concavely curved blade instead of on the conveXly curved edge, I have found that the thing being cut is more readily severed and that there is less tendency to displacement than would be the case were the notches or teeth formed upon the convexly curved blade edge. I may also provide a stop to hold the blades closed, or practically closed, said stop in its preferred form comprising a swinging arm 16 frictionally mounted under the head of the pivot screw 6" and being arranged to swing into position between said pivot screw and the head of the screw 9 when the blades are closed (see dotted lines Fig. 2) thus preventing the handle from opening under the action of the spring 10. While it is preferable to relieve the screw 9 from the strain of the work and to provide a separate abutment 5 to receive said strain, it is obvious that in some modifications, the screw 9 might perform partly, or wholly, the function of said abutment as well as its own function, but in all instances the slot 6' in the bend 6 through which the screw passes should be so designed as to permit the bend 6 to move to and fro without binding.

While I have shown and described my invention in its preferred form it will of course be understood that I may make modifications and changes therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a cutting tool of the character described, a pair of blades, a pair of handles, one blade being rigidly connected to one of said handles, a forwardly faced shouldered abutment on the same handle, an offset bend at'the rear of the other blade bearing upon and supported against strain by said abutment, said offset bend being pivotally connected to the other handle, the latter being pivotally connected to the first mentioned handle to the rear of said abutment, and means to hold said blades together.

2. In a cutting tool of the character described, a pair of blades, a pair of handles,

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the one blade being rigidly connected to one of said handles, a forwardly faced shouldered abutment on the same handle, an offset bend at the rear of the other biade bearing upon and supported against strain by said abutment, said offset bend being pivotally connected to the other handle, the latter being pivotally connected to the first mentioned handle to the rear of said abutment, said abutment being in a plane at one side of the plane of the blade rigidly connected to one of the handles, and means to hold said handles together.

In a cutting tool of the character described, a pair of blades, a pair of pivotally connected handles, one of the blades being rigidly connected to one of the handles, a forwardly faced abutment shoulder on that handle to which the blade is rigidl attached, an offset bend on the other blade, the outer end of said bend being pivotally connected to the other handle, the back of said bend intermediate its length being arranged to both slide and tilt on said ofi'set as said handles are moved to and fro.

In a cutting tool of the character described, a pair of blades, a pair of pivotally connected handles, one blade being rigidly carried by one handle, the other blade being pivotally connected to the other handle, an angular bend in the last mentioned blade forming a cam at its rear, a forwardly faced abutment on that handle which carries the rigid blade, said cam being arranged to slide and tilt on said abutment as the handles are moved to and fro, and means to hold said blades together comprising a slot in the bent part of the blade which is pivotally connected to one of the handles, and a headed stud standing in said slot and connected to the rigid handle forward of the abutment.

5. In a cutting tool of the character described, a pair of blades, a pair of pivotally connected handles, one of the blades being rigidly connected to one of the handles, a forwardly faced abutment shoulder on that handle to which the blade is rigidly attached, an offset bend on the other blade, the outer end of said bend being pivotally connected to the other handle, the back of said bend intermediate its length being arranged to both slide and tilt on said offset as said handles are moved to and fro, the cutting edge of the pivotally carried blade being transversely notched.

EDGAR BUELL.

Witnesses:

WM. JOHN DENNISON, J. S. FLETCHER.

Commissioner of rams,

Washington, D. C. 

